154 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 7, 



rillLlSHED MEEKI.V HV 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 50 Pltth Avenuo. - CHICAGO, If^I.. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Entered at the Post-OtBce at ChicaKO as SecoDd-CIass Mail-Matter.] 



EDITOR. 



Assisted by the following Department Editors : 

 Dr. C. C. Millek - - - "Question's and Answers." 

 Mrs. Jennie Atchlet - - - "The Sunny Southland." 

 "Gi-EANEu" .... "Among the Bee-Papers." 



"Bee-Master" "Canadian Beedom." 



Dr. F. L. Peiro " Doctor's Hints." 



Rev. Emerson T. Abbott - - " Notes and Comments." 



Vol. inV. CHICA&O, ILL, MAR, I, 1895, No, 10. 



Editorial Budget. 



Mr. Xlionia^i G. IVetvman, in a letter dated Feb. 23, 

 wrote me: " I am laid up for repairs with la grippe again." I 

 hope that it will not lay him up (or down) so hard as in former 

 years. But " the grip " is not overly tender-hearted. 



.nr. «'. A. I»i-jal, of North Temescal, Calif., is "getting 

 pictured " a good deal these days. The Bee Journal printed his 

 phiz Jan 31. and Gleanings showed him up in its issue for Feb. 15. 

 If Mr. Pryal is a fair sample of the California bee-keepers, they 

 are nice follis. 



*-»-«■ 



Ou tlic fence, is where Editor Root has put me beside Mr. 

 Hutchinson, on a certain subject. All right, seeing its not made 

 of barbed-wire. Mr. Hutchinson and I agree on most subjects, 

 and when we can't agree we just "agree to disagree." That 

 always keeps things pleasant between us. 



Honey <or ICrsiin-tVork.— A writer in the British Bee 

 Journal has a friend, who is a well-known author, and who says : 



You may like to know that my doctor told me, and I amply 

 proved it by experience, that in doing hard brain -work there is 

 nothing better for the work than pure honey. 



It seems to me I've heard somewhere that fish also is good 

 brain-fooi*. What with plenty of honey and tish, bee-keepers 

 ought all to have a good supply of non-overworkable brains. 



Four Kxtra Puj^es are added this week to accommodate 

 a few Premium and Clubbing Offers that will well repay a' care- 

 ful examination (see pages 161, 103 and 1G3). It is hoped that 

 many of you will then go to work to earn some of the Premiums, 

 and that others will take advantage of the liberal Clubbing Ofifers 

 in renewing their subscriptions t j the American Bee Journal. It 

 is a mutual matter— the publishers of the Bee Journal want to help 

 you, and in return would like to have you help them. Why not 

 every present subscriber send in one or more new names at .$1.00 

 each before April 1— before the hurry of spring and summer work 

 comes on. 



The larger the subscription list of the Bee Journal, the better 

 the paper will be in every way. Just send on a big storm of re- 

 newals and new subscribers. If any of us get " snowed under " 

 and suffocate here in the office, a proper notice will appear in due 

 time. A big " blizzard " of mail will be expected in a short time. 



Apiciiltui-al Uleratiire receives a little more attention 

 in this number of the Bee Journal, as you will see on page 149. 

 Well, the "poor thing" needs a good deal of nursing, in some 

 localities, if it is ever to develop into anything worthy the name 

 of "Apicultural Literature." The following comments and sug- 

 gestions from Dr. Miller are so good and to the point that I feel 

 they should be read by everybody. It is specially hoped that the 

 article by Mr. Hoffman, on page 149, and this from Dr. Miller, will 

 be " honestly, earnestly, fearlessly, conscientiously and faithfully 

 considered" by the sweet-tempered, Apollo-like essayist whose 

 classical production was printed on page 99: 



Mk. Editor: — Apicultural literature seems to be in a bad way, 

 judging from Mr. Heddon's essay on page 99. The trouble seems 

 to be confined entirely to Gleanings and the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. Well, why not let the old things go, and instead of trying to 

 reform them, read some of the other papers. 



The editors of those two journals are such as can neither 

 •' write or select first-class articles." Bad, isn't it ? And the sad 

 part of it is that although other papers have started and given up 

 the ghost, these two continue to live and flourish. Must be that 

 bee-keepers rather like their writings and selections. 



Some statements are a little puzzling. " The good old Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal has fallen into nothing but an echo of Gleanings." 

 And yet everything in its columns is credited to other men. " Its 

 editor is not a bee-keeper, having no practical knowledge of the 

 business." And yet he keeps more bees than its editor of 10 or 30 

 years ago when all was lovely. Gleanings' editor is " a bee-keeper 

 of over '30 years ago." And yet 30 years ago he was a boy in his 

 teens, for the younger Root, a practical and enthusiastic bee- 

 keeper, now takes care almost entirely of the matter that pertains 

 to bees. 



" Why is it more difficult to make a living out of our business 



now than it was 10 and 30 years ago? Something is wrong, 



and our literature is mainly at the bottom of it,'' So all that's 

 necessary is to get out the old files of bee-papers of 10 and 30 years 

 ago, read them over, and refrain from reading anything later, and 

 then the flowers will yield just as they did then 1 



Marengo, 111. " C. C. Miller. 

 •*-»-*■ 



A I1ie'%v Uec-Aiiisocialion.- On Feb. 9, the State of 

 Washington Bee-Keepers' Association was organized, at North 

 Yakima, Wash., with J. W. Beck as President, Chas. Lee Vice- 

 President, Orlando Beck Secretary, L. C. Brown Assistant Secre- 

 tary, and Isaac Hayes Treasurer. It started off with 11 charter 

 members. 



The bee-industry in Yakima county, Washington, is becoming 

 an important factor in their wealth and prosperity. There is a 

 lucrative market for honey, and probably no place in the West is 

 more conducive to success in its development. I trust the new 

 association will be very prosperous, and the means of spreading 

 much helpful apicultural knowledge in that region. 



Blanictl tin- IttM-s ! — Messrs. F. I. Sage & Son, of New 

 York, sent in the following clipping, with this remark: " Funny 

 bees in ' Hold Hingland;' " 



The Bees to Blame, — A Bristol (England) druggist, who was 

 charged with selling beeswax adulterated with solid parafBne, 

 pleaded that the bees themselves were to blame. It appears that 

 English hive-owners place within the reach of the bees artificial 

 comb foundations for making their comb. The result is honey with 

 a decided admixture of paraffine. 



That's a pretty good joke on our English bee-brethren ! The 

 idea of feeding bees "artificial foundations for making their 

 comb!" And then, to think that should result in " honey with a 

 decided admixture of parafllne!" Those " English hive-owners " 

 should subscribe for the British Bee Journal, and then — read it! 



Saealine (the new plant shown on page 113) seems to be 

 creating quite a stir in some localities, Mr. Geo. H. Eversole, of 

 New Mexico, whom Mr. Dadant quoted, has written to the Bee 

 Journal about it as follows, dated Feb. 31 : 



I send you a clipping from Farm and Home, concerning saca- 

 lina or sacaline. The people around here are nearly wild about it. 

 It is claimed to be the greatest forage plant known, and, as its 

 name indicates, it is a succulent plant, I have seen some seed of 

 it, and they resemble parsnip seed, I have an idea that it is a 

 good plant for bees, and that is the part I am concerned in, I hope 

 you will try to find out something concerning its value for bee- 

 pasturage, and let the many readers of the American Bee Journal 

 know its value in that line. As it has seeds, it stands to reason 

 that it has flowers, and the probabilities are that the flowers con- 

 tain honey. Georqe H. Eversole. 



The " clipping " referred to by Mr. Eversole reads thus : 



Sacalina is a new forage plant that is being introduced. It is 

 described as an enormous bearer and very nutritious. In France 



